All InSample

Starting a fast is easy; finishing well is another issue altogether. Hopefully, you are still participating as we near the end of the second week of our fast. Are you hanging in there? If you quit, it’s okay. There’s no need to be legalistic or religious about it. If you are still going, let’s finish strong together. In Luke 4, Jesus finishes His 40 days, and the enemy attacks immediately. Satan is constantly looking to strike when we are at our weakest. 

And yet, Jesus defeated every attack of the enemy. It was said of Him after the fast and warfare that, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,” for it was following this victory that He began His public ministry. Nothing could stop our Lord when He walked filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. 

The same could be said of us, but we must finish strong. 

Today, it is as if a spirit of heaviness has fallen on God’s Church. Instead of fasting, too many of us try to medicate our heaviness. Could it be that there’s nothing that we can put into our bodies that will help, but instead what we refuse to put in (i.e. food) that will make the difference? 

Fasting breaks that spirit of heaviness. Fasting can bring what, in some translations, the prophet Isaiah calls, “the garment of praise.” In other translations, he shares that God wants

"...To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." - Isaiah 61:3 

In 2 Chronicles, we find the great King Jehoshaphat, who after seeing the people getting right with the Lord, hears about an opposing army that is coming. Not only did this enemy have an army, but the army was so large that there was no chance of winning. 

What would you do? 

Amazingly, King Jehoshaphat turns to the Lord and proclaims a fast just like we are doing right now. And on that day, God brought about a great victory despite the impossibilities surrounding them. Could God do the same for you and your situation? 

Let’s go all in, finish strong, and watch our Lord bring about great victory!